The house was quiet. My parents had gone to bed an hour ago. The only light in the room was my phone screen.
I typed her name.
Capri Lynch.
The account came up immediately. Public. Of course it was public.
Her profile photo was a close-up—sunlight on her face, eyes half-closed, the kind of shot that looked effortless but wasn't. 84,000 followers. A blue checkmark.
I started scrolling.
She did sunrise yoga on a waterfront balcony. The railing was the same brushed steel I'd seen in luxury condo listings near the Sound. She posted flat lays of green juice and leather-bound planners. Captions like *alignment* and *intentional living* and *she who is brave is free.*
I kept scrolling.
The apartment showed up in pieces across dozens of posts. A marble kitchen island. Built-in bookshelves with art books stacked spine-out. A window seat with a view of the water. I recognized the building. I'd walked past it. I knew what those units cost.
I kept scrolling.
Then the couple photos started.
Always cropped. Always deliberate. A shoulder. A hand resting on a restaurant table. A man's forearm in a tailored navy sleeve. And on that wrist, every single time, the same watch. A Patek Philippe Nautilus in steel. I had given it to Emmett for our seventh anniversary. I had held it in my hands in the jewelry case and thought about how far we'd come.
My thumb didn't stop moving.
Caption: *some people feel like home.* Posted fourteen months ago. 4,200 likes.
Caption: *grateful for the one who sees me.* Posted nine months ago. 6,800 likes.
Caption: *building something beautiful.* Posted six months ago. A photo of two champagne flutes on that marble island, no faces, just the glasses touching.
I screenshotted every single one. I noted the dates. I cross-referenced the timestamps against Emmett's travel calendar, which I still had access to through our shared work account. Chicago. Dallas. San Francisco. Every trip lined up.
Then I found it.
Three weeks ago. A post with a soft-focus photo of a tiny white onesie laid out on a cream blanket. A single candle. A sprig of eucalyptus.
*Our greatest chapter begins.* Heart emoji. Followed by 2,341 comments. Congratulations from strangers. *So happy for you!* *You deserve this!* *Glowing mama!*
Five months along. She was five months along.
I did the math without meaning to. My hands were very still.
I screenshotted the post. I screenshotted the comments. I saved the timestamp.
Then I put my phone face-down on the mattress and sat in the dark for a moment.
The house smelled like my mother's candles and the leftover turkey from dinner. Down the hall, Trip was asleep in the guest room with his shoes still half-on, the way he always fell asleep in new places.
I picked the phone back up and opened my notes. I kept writing.
---
I called Sasha on a Tuesday night, ten days later, from my home office in Seattle.
It was late. Past eleven. I'd put Trip to bed, poured myself a glass of water I hadn't touched, and sat at my desk for a long time before I dialed.
She picked up on the second ring.
"Hey," she said. Just that.
I told her everything. The broadcast. The jacket. The name the anchor said on television while my son sat against my side. The Instagram account. The watch in every photo. The pregnancy announcement posted three weeks ago to eighty-four thousand people who had no idea who the father was.
I spoke for maybe six minutes. I didn't stop. I didn't let my voice do anything it wasn't supposed to do.
When I finished, there was a silence on the other end that lasted long enough that I knew she was absorbing it. Not performing shock. Actually absorbing it.
Then she said: "Tell me what you need."
Four words. No questions. No *are you okay* or *I can't believe it* or any of the things that would have cost me something to answer.
Just: *tell me what you need.*
That's ten years of friendship. That's someone who knows you well enough to skip straight to the part that matters.
"A full forensic audit," I said. "Every financial transaction Emmett authorized over the past three years. Every vendor payment, every consulting contract, every wire transfer. I want to see all of it."
Another pause. Shorter this time.
"I'll start pulling records tonight," she said.
"Sasha."
"Yeah."
"Don't tell anyone."
"Obviously."
We hung up.
I sat in the dark office for another minute. The room smelled like coffee and old paper. On the shelf behind my desk, the framed photo of my father and me at my college graduation caught the edge of the desk lamp.
He looked proud in that photo. The way he always looked when he thought I wasn't watching.
I turned back to my screen and started a new document.
When I got to the office the next morning, Sasha's light was already on.
